Tbilisi City Court sentences 8 defendants in October 4 case to 5 years in prison
Justice
Tbilisi City Court on Monday found eight defendants in the October 4 case guilty and sentenced each of them to five years in prison.
Zurab Chavchanidze Vladimir Gvelesiani, Amiran Dolishvili, Anton Vardanidze, Alexandre Chilachava, Genadi Kupreishvili, Sulkhan Tughushi and Ramaz Mamuladze were each sentenced to five years’ imprisonment.
The defendants were charged with attempting, as a group, to seize a strategic and specially important facility and with participating in group violence.
The offences carry a maximum sentence of up to six years in prison.
A total of 14 individuals were charged in connection with this episode. Six of them: Giorgi Korkia, Giorgi Rurua, Khvicha Gogokhia, Levan Jikia, Lasha Ivanadze and Sergo Megrelishvili, reached plea agreements with prosecutors and were released from the courtroom following the court's approval of the agreements.
On October 4, 2025, large-scale protests in Tbilisi escalated into a dramatic confrontation, as a group of radical demonstrators tried to storm the presidential palace. The unrest occurred on the same day Georgia held municipal elections.
Authorities detained five opposition figures, including Paata Burchuladze. They are now facing charges of plotting to overthrow the Government - a potential offence that could carry lengthy prison sentences.
Government officials described the events as a failed coup attempt orchestrated with foreign backing. Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze called the protests “an attempted overthrow of the constitutional order”.
